Eyes Off
by Misty Reeyus
Summary: Judith isn't used to feeling this type of jealousy. Frankly, she doesn't like it. Judith x Rita.


**Eyes Off**

When Judith first caught sight of the male customer at the nearby corner table gazing at Rita, she paid him no mind—it was normal for patrons to sometimes watch the waitress before calling her over—and returned her attention to simmering the stews.

When quite some time passed and Judith noticed that the same guy was still watching Rita and still hadn't ordered anything, she shrugged it off yet again and figured that he was probably just taking a long time to decide what he wanted.

When he finally opened his mouth, Judith was forced to greatly revise her initial impressions.

"Hey, cute babe with the kitty ears! I'm ready to order!"

Judith had heard quite a great amount of catcalls throughout her teenage years, most of which had been directed towards her and some of which had been incredibly lewd, but none to date had ever left a lasting impression on her. Yet just hearing this one in particular left her shocked, blindsided, momentarily made her stomach curl in on itself in a way that was neither familiar nor pleasant.

Of course, Judith wasn't the intended recipient this time—she was wearing a perfectly _normal_ maid outfit, thank you very much—and the cat-waitress hurrying about around the Sagittarius tavern abruptly halted in her tracks, visibly tensing up. Judith watched and waited for the explosion that was sure to come, for her ever fiery girlfriend to hiss out some vitriolic rejection that would leave the presumptuous customer devastated.

But either the mage was exercising much more self-control than she typically did or was too focused on getting through the rush hour to bother with getting worked up, because the tension soon drained from her body and Rita approached the man's table with that same face she put on every time she and Judith played poker together.

And Judith, deciding that she now had more pressing matters to attend to than a keeping the soup at a constant temperature, strained her ears to listen in on them.

"Your order, sir?"

"You know, I've never seen you around here before," the man drawled, rather rudely, as if Rita hadn't spoken. "You new here, sweetheart?"

"I'm only helping out for today due to the current lack of staff," Rita answered simply, with measured politeness.

"Such a shame, then. If you actually worked here, I know I'd eat here every day."

"We appreciate your patronage regardless. Now, _your order_, sir?"

"Hmmm, spicy shrimp and mabo curry. I like my food _hot_." The guy leaned back in his seat rather dramatically and even from a distance, Judith could see him wink. "And my ladies, too."

If it hadn't been her girlfriend he was saying that to, Judith would have been at least a little amused at how incredibly tacky the statement was. Right now though, she could only feel annoyed.

Rita had to have noticed the obvious pass at her and yet, she didn't show any sign of acknowledging it as she coolly intoned, "Shrimp and curry, got it." She turned her back on him swiftly, dismissively, and made straight for the front counter, but her blatant lack of interest in him had done absolutely nothing to squander his interest in her, if his unwavering gaze on her retreating form was any indication.

By now Judith's lips were pursed and her hand was clutching the soup ladle just a bit too tightly as something inside her twisted and churned and rose up uncomfortably in her throat. This situation felt so…_foreign_ to her. Judith was so used to being the one who always got stared at or hit on, who was always on the receiving end of yearning gazes, and as long as people weren't intrusive about it, she never actually minded.

But if anyone had ever tried to pick up _Rita_ before, Judith hadn't been around to witness it. And now, as she watched someone else stare at her girlfriend as if she were a sack of meat, Judith's insides churned with an fierce sense of protectiveness, _possessiveness_ even, and far more irritation than she ever would have expected to feel.

If this was how Rita felt every time the Krityan got ogled at, Judith owed her an apology.

"Spicy shrimp and—mmphhh!"

The overly cocky customer was still watching Rita when she came up to collect the order, so Judith was certain that he saw it when the Krityan bent over the countertop and cut off Rita's sentence by dragging her in and kissing her fervently on the mouth. Rita froze up and grunted in surprise at first, but soon enough, the mage reciprocated, lips shy and tentative but more than enough to leave Judith satisfied.

Judith pulled back and Rita flushed an adorable shade of pink, her green eyes still glazed over as her lips slowly parted.

"W-what was—?"

"Keep an eye on the food for me, would you?" Judith cut Rita off, grinning as she quickly grabbed the appropriate dishes from the food racks and pushed herself up and over the counter. The guy who had moments ago been so intent on eying up Rita was now looking anywhere but their direction as Judith strode up to his table, and that just wouldn't do, so the Krityan set his food down with a loud clang against the table. He jumped in his seat, startled, and glanced towards her on instinct, giving Judith the opportunity to shoot him a sickly sweet smile.

"Please refrain from letting your eyes fall upon my girlfriend ever again." Judith was more than ready to take action if her threat went unheeded but thankfully, the man seemed rather sheepish as he frantically avoided her gaze again, apparently deciding that the salt shaker was the most interesting sight he'd ever seen. He probably wouldn't bother them anymore. "Enjoy your meal," she chimed, her own ego swelling from victory as she turned on her heel.

Rita was waiting exactly where Judith had left her, arms crossed over her chest, lips curled up into a knowing smirk, voice lilting and playful as Judith approached. "So, what was all that about?"

Oops. Caught red-handed.

Judith shrugged coyly and brushed past Rita to climb back over and into the buffet area. "Oh, nothing."

"Riiiiiight." Rita rolled her eyes, setting her elbows on the tabletop and resting her chin in her palm and quirking a brow at Judith in smug amusement. "Heh. Didn't realize you were the jealous type," she teased.

Judith fought off the urge to pout and instead gestured towards the dining area that was still bustling with hungry customers. "You shouldn't keep them waiting. We have many more orders to fill."

"Yeah yeah, I'm on it." Rita chuckled, and Judith expected her to leave then but she didn't, instead catching Judith off guard by leaning across the counter and pecking her on the cheek.

"Thanks for dealing with him, though," Rita murmured into her ear, then pulled back to shoot Judith a genuinely grateful smile. "I mean it." Judith blinked once, twice, then looked down at the clam chowder and stirred in an incredibly transparent attempt to hide the grin creeping across her face.

"Anytime, Rita. Now get back to work."


End file.
